Re: linux on ps/2 50z mca bus ???

Neil Moore (amethyst@valjean.sfhs.floyd.k12.ky.us)
Sat, 14 Dec 1996 16:34:44 -0500

>
>
> I may be taking a ps/2 model 50z 286 (maybe 386?) mca bus computer in on
> trade for a computer sale. I have sources where I can be a cpu upgrade for
> the 50z and make it a 486. I can feed it a bit of ram and end up with an
> extra box. My question is, what support is there for the MCA bus and PS/2s
> in Linux (if there is any)? And, if there is, what mca network cards are
> stable?
>
> If feasible, I might invest a couple of dollars and turn this into a backup
> dns server, and possibly serve as a backup for other services.

Linux v2.1.15 (the lastest development kernel at the moment) includes support
for MCA. Earlier versions do not. Here is part of Documentation/mca.txt :

# MCA Device Drivers
# ==================
#
# Currently, there are a number of MCA-specific device drivers.
#
# 1) PS/2 ESDI
# drivers/block/ps2esdi.c
# include/linux/ps2esdi.h
# Uses major number 36, and should use /dev files /dev/eda, /dev/edb.
# Supports two drives, but only one controller. Usually requires the
# command-line args ed=cyl,head,sec
#
# 2) PS/2 SCSI
# drivers/scsi/ibmmca.c
# drivers/scsi/ibmmca.h
# The driver for the IBM SCSI subsystem. Includes both integrated
# controllers and adapter cards. May require command-line arg
# ibmmcascsi=pun to force detection of an adapter.
#
# 3) 3c523
# drivers/net/3c523.c
# drivers/net/3c523.h
# 3Com 3c523 Etherlink/MC ethernet driver.
#
# 4) SMC Ultra/MCA
# drivers/net/smc-mca.c
# drivers/net/smc-mca.h
# Elite/A (8013EP/A) and Elite10T/A (8013WP/A) ethernet driver
#
# As well, drivers/char/psaux.c was modified to support IRQ sharing (it's
# #ifdef CONFIG_MCA'ed, for your convenience, although PCI users might be
# able to use it...)
#
# The serial drivers were modified to support the extended IO port range
# of the typical MCA system (also #ifdef CONFIG_MCA).
#
# The following devices work with existing drivers:
# 1) Token-ring
# 2) Future Domain SCSI (MCS-600, MCS-700, not MCS-350)
# 3) Adaptec 1640 SCSI (aha1542 driver)
# 4) Buslogic SCSI (various)

It looks like your choices are the 3c523, Elite/A, Elite10T/A,
and Token Ring cards. Any IBM non-DMA Token Ring card should
work. I don't know about stability, since I don't use MCA.
There have been some changes in the 2.1.15 network code, though,
so make sure you read the newsgroups. See the linux source for
more details.

-- 
-Neil Moore          http://www.sfhs.floyd.k12.ky.us/~amethyst
(finger amethyst@valjean.sfhs.floyd.k12.ky.us for my Geek Code)